Lando Norris said he is proud of the way he went about winning his first Formula One world championship, stating after an emotional celebration with his McLaren team and family that he was glad he “won it my way”.
Norris emphasised that he felt he had raced fairly and without being overly aggressive, an approach for which he has received criticism in not demonstrating the much eulogised “killer instinct”, which he believes he has proved is not necessary by claiming the title.
Norris finished in third at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, enough to secure the world drivers’ championship by two points from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who won the race but could not overcome Norris’s 12-point advantage.
The 26-year-old Briton has been explicit all season that he felt he could win the title and still drive clean, and he felt he had made his point.
“That’s one of the things that makes me most proud,” Norris said. “I feel like I have just managed to win it the way I wanted to win it, which was not by being someone I’m not.
“Not trying to be as aggressive as Max or as forceful as other champions might have been in the past, I’m happy. I just won it my way – by being a fair driver, by trying to be an honest driver. At times, could I have been more aggressive and got off the brakes and had a few people over? I certainly could have done. Is that the way I want to go racing? Is that me? It’s not.”
Norris also admitted that much as he had appeared to be in complete control, the final moments were nerve-jangling.
“I felt calm until three corners to go, I started to shake a little bit,” he said. “Then I got to see the team when I went over the line and this is a moment that I’ll never forget.”
Norris has made a remarkable comeback from 34 points off the then leader, Piastri, in August after he failed to finish in Zandvoort with a mechanical problem and said that low point had been a real spur to his efforts and that he had brought new people into his team to try to hone his approach.
“I was like: ‘Oh, shoot. I’m quite a long way behind against a pretty freaking fast driver, and I’ve got to step it up,’” he said. “I got to be more myself because of external factors, working with more professionals in different areas to unlock more of my ability and when you saw that, I had that run of great results, which is ultimately what got me the championship in the end.”
Verstappen took only positives from his and Red Bull’s performances, having come back from a 104‑point deficit and believing they had given their all against a McLaren that was the superior car for the majority of the year. When asked if he thought it was the best he had driven in a career that included four titles, he concurred.
“Yeah, I think so, I mean, I have no regrets about my season,” Verstappen said. “I think the performance has been strong. I’ve hated this car at times, but I’ve also loved it at times. I always tried to extract the most from it, even in the difficult weekends that we’ve had.
“It’s been a proper rollercoaster with the car. Also, in the team we have a great atmosphere at the moment. We’re really on a roll. Positive energy, belief, confidence and that’s exactly what you want heading into next year.”
However the Dutchman, who ultimately claimed eight wins – more than any other driver – reacted testily when asked if he had any regrets over the incident at the Spanish GP where he was penalised for deliberately driving into George Russell’s car, demoting him from fifth to 10th, which cost him nine points.
“You forget about all the other stuff that happened in my season,” Verstappen snapped. “The only thing that you mention is Barcelona. I knew that would come. It is part of racing. You live and learn. A championship is won over 24 rounds and I have also had a lot of early Christmas presents given to me in the second half of the season so you can also question that, too.
A clearly disappointed Piastri, who had led the championship for more races than Norris before a drop in form in the final third and took seven wins, reflected that he felt he would emerge only stronger from being beaten to the title.
“Obviously I would have wished for a slightly different ending,” he said. “But I think this year I’ve learned a hell of a lot about myself as a race car driver, myself as a person. If you had presented this season at the start of the year with the pole positions and the wins and the podiums, I definitely would have been pretty happy with that.
“I think even in the tough moments, I’ve learned a lot about myself and how I can be stronger in the future. Ultimately there’s a little bit of disappointment but I think I can be very proud of the season I’ve had and plenty of lessons to take to the future.””
